bogus dvds being sold by studios

a few months ago i rented an old favorite movie from netflix, where the buffalo roam. in the opening scene, bill murray playing hunter thompson is wrestling with writer’s block, a bottle of wild turkey, a mojo wire, doberman, and a very large sidearm. when the gunsmoke has cleared and the barking subsides, murray lights a doobie, inhales, spins around to the turntable and drops the needle on….some fucking song i’ve never heard before that sounds extremely cheesy. in the theatrical release, it was a memorable moment: bob dylan’s highway 61 revisited (that’s a link to the itunes store preview in case you don’t remember the song). the song set up the movie. it set the tone, it was an emotional driving force. owing to a music rights clearance issue (not enough money in the dvd release budget i imagine), that song was no longer in the movie, replaced by something that didn’t belong there. (it may have been a good song, i don’t remember because i was shocked and pissed at how different the experience was).
today i read that the problem is fairly widespread. if distributors can’t secure the music rights to movies and tv shows (and music publishers should be willing to negotiate, because some revenue is better than none) then they shouldn’t release them. the soundtrack is an integral part of most filmed entertainment, and replacing the original songs with less expensive alternative choices is a very very bad idea. well, any time that an MBA bean counter starts making creative decisions, it is a bad idea, and when it tampers with people’s memories of movies and shows, it will alienate consumers. and when consumers are alienated, they stop buying.
perhaps  the fbi should be called in to investigate THESE counterfeit dvds.